Species profile

Name: the harbour or common seal (Phoca vitulina) is a true or earless seal.

Appearance: their fur color can be very variable – most commonly it’s silver, white, or grey with black spots, but they can also be black or brown with white spots, and even more rarely reddish. According to the U.S. National Parks system, this is due to iron oxide deposits on their hair. These seals don’t have ear flaps, just small holes on the sides of their heads. While very slow and goofy on land, they are fast and agile in the water.

Size: adults reach up to 1.9 metres long and weigh up to 170 kg. A thick layer of blubber under their skin helps to maintain their body temperature.

Diet: they typically eat fish such as salmon, anchovy, sea bass, herring, mackerel, cod, whiting, and flatfish. Occasionally they also eat shrimp, crabs, molluscs, squid, and even ducks!

Did you know: harbour seals are normally solitary but gather together in groups during the breeding season. During this time males gather underwater, turn on their backs, put their heads together, and call to attract females. The pups are born well developed and are capable of swimming and diving within hours. They are fed on their mother’s rich milk and grow rapidly – doubling in size in around 3 weeks!

Location: they are widely distributed along temperate and Arctic coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. Harbour seals are often found in harbours, bays, intertidal zones, and estuaries giving them their common name.

Where to see harbour seals

According to reports submitted to WildSide, you can see harbour seals in the following places:

Photo credit: skeeze under a Creative Commons license from Pixabay